Generally, side view mirrors that protrude from left and right sides of a vehicle allow a driver within the vehicle to view and identify a situation or surrounding in areas behind and to the sides of the vehicle. However, these mirrors may reduce driving performance of the vehicle due to increased air friction during high speed driving, and generate a vortex at the ends thereof to increase driving noise. Accordingly, both sides of the vehicle may be provided with side cameras by which the areas behind and to the sides of the vehicle are capable of being monitored. However, the side cameras may cover a limited range, and thus a blind spot unable of being monitored by the side cameras may be generated. Therefore, the driver may not be aware of a situation in the blind spot, thus causing a potential increase in accidents.
FIGS. 1A to 1C illustrate a blind spot generated when a vehicle is driving on a multilane road, and FIG. 2 illustrates a blind spot generated in a section of a multilane road where lanes merge according to the related art.
In FIG. 1A, a subject vehicle is driving in a first lane, while the other vehicle is driving in a third lane. In FIG. 1B, the subject vehicle and the other vehicle are trying to change to the same lane. In this case, a driver of the subject vehicle may check only the areas behind and to the side of the vehicle (see {circle around (1)} in FIG. 1B). Since the other vehicle is located in a blind spot of the subject vehicle, the driver of the subject vehicle is not capable of recognizing the other vehicle. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, there is a risk of collision between the subject vehicle and the other vehicle (e.g., the surrounding vehicle, rear vehicle, or the like).
As illustrated in FIG. 2, a driver of each vehicle may only be capable of checking the areas behind and to the side of the vehicle (see {circle around (1)} in FIG. 2) in a merging section. In this case, vehicles located in areas outside of area {circle around (1)}, that is, in blind spots, are not capable of being recognized, and this may lead to an accident. In addition, it may be difficult to check a situation in a blind spot when a vehicle is driving at night (e.g., during poor lighting conditions). Accordingly, a sensor may be mounted within the vehicle to detect an object in the blind spot, and thus, the driver may be able to recognize a situation in the blind spot in advance. However, this technique requires a separate sensor to be mounted within the vehicle, and an error may occur in sensor value measurement due to the influence of external environments such as deteriorating weather conditions and the characteristics of the sensor itself.